The 10 Tools Learning Challenge

Remember how fun it was when you were a kid?  I used to love playing in the sand at our house although I'm not sure my Mom had an appreciation for it. I usually took spoons and plastic bowls and other utensils from her kitchen. It was fun to see what I could make with each tool.  When I'd get an idea to make something new, I'd slip into the kitchen and see if she had something handy that would help me with the idea.

I think the same is true of technology.  Social media tools and learning technologies are everywhere and more are emerging all the time.  For those of us working in prevention and community change, we need to learn some of the technologies -- the ones that helps us do our work more efficiently and effectively. Sometimes its connecting, or maybe collaborating, tracking, analyzing or relationship building and other times it is in our role as prevention educators.  We need the tools of our time, tech tools that help us envision, describe and document actions and to imagine new things we could do if we had a nifty tool from the tech kitchen to help us. Pause for a moment and reconnect with that playful spirit and then continue.

Jane Hart has an awesome and doable learning challenge for 2013 -- the 10 Tools Challenge (do follow her blog and on twitter). Jane does an annual tools survey that identifies the top 100 tools for learning.  She's been doing this learning tools survey for six years now and its interesting to see new tools burst on the scene. Some stay and move up while others fade away.  The tools listed include some that we are accustomed to like PowerPoint and YouTube but there are also a whole lot of tools (98 others) that may not be so familiar.  What do these tools have to do with the work of prevention and community change?  How will we know until we scout them out?   

The 10 Tools Challenge is a great professional and personal development opportunity -- one not chosen for you (by your agency or organization) but by you .. a bit of free range learning(tm). I'm taking Jane's challenge so I'll be posting monthly on the progress as I learn the tools. I really like being able to choose and plan to focus on learning tools one at a time and over specific time. 

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2012 from Jane Hart

Here's the 10 tools I want to learn or learn deeper in  2013. 

1. Evernote
2. LinkedIn
3. Animoto
4. Voki
5. Camtasia
6. WordPress (mobile)
7. Google Analytics
8. Fireworks
9. Pocket
10. Google+/Hangouts

I hope you'll take the challenge too but even if you don't - at least pick 1 tool you want to learn and develop skills with for this year. It may be a tool that you are slightly familiar with and want to learn more thoroughly or maybe something new and intriguing. You get to choose.

What tools would you like to learn about or learn more about and where would like to master a tool for yourself and for the work of prevention?